Nairobi, Kenya
legal systems to contend with. Add to this the fact that many locations present few opportunities outside of the capital city.
“This is now changing,” says Julian
Munsey, marketing manager at Hillgate Travel. “Last year Marriott purchased Protea Hotels – a pan-African group. Now many of the global hotel chains are planning openings across the continent.” Radisson Blu now has properties in
Lome (Togo) and Kenyan capital Nairobi, and also plans further openings across Africa, including Chad. Yet in many ways the continent has the potential to leapfrog other ‘legacy’ travel markets in areas such as mobile telephony. “Take Kenya for example,” says Munsey. “Mobile payment is ex- tremely popular, while here in the UK
In some East African markets they are already moving to a mobile-first strategy when it comes to e-commerce
we are still working on an invoice or credit card account basis.” In some East African markets, there
are already moves towards a mobile-first strategy when it comes to e-commerce; already, business is often conducted in a
‘cellular-only’ fashion. Some markets are global frontrunners in mobile internet usage, despite take-up of technology within travel programmes being poor. South Africa is really the only market where online booking for domestic travel is prevalent. “If I was a travel manager right now
looking to trial new mobile booking and expense platforms, I would be looking hard at some of my African operations,” says Pouney. Africa is always going to be a vast and complicated market, with a land-mass greater than China, the US, India, Japan and most of Europe combined. However, when travel buyers learn to accept this reality, and take account of the real size of this last untapped continent, they can then start to really get down to business.
Top tips for managing travel in Africa
Despite many African markets seeing promising economic growth and potential for executive travel, they are still vulnerable to ignorance, both inside and outside Africa.
• Always check your air routes, as turnover can be huge. An analysis for Buying Business T
ravel by OAG showed that, this June, over 300 routes had been discontinued compared to the same time last year – yet roughly the same number of new routes had sprung up.
• Direct flights between two airports? Think again. A would-be one-hour flight from Luanda to Kinshasa, for example, would take a traveller at least ten hours and possibly an overnight
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
stay in a hub airport in South Africa or Kenya, because no bilateral agreement exists between Angola and the DRC.
• Everything takes a lot longer to organise. Always leave more time (and then some) for a trip: Africa is not in a hurry.
• Safety concerns are valid, but can be very localised. Don’t just take advice from your travel or security provider, or the Foreign Office – get a first-person
account on the ground. Remember, situations change rapidly. Disasters make headline news, yet more mundane issues, such as road accidents and illness, are more likely to floor travellers.
• The mismatch between perception and reality means that managers can be guilty of overprotecting travellers. With security briefings ringing in their ears, some executives don’t even venture out of their hotel.
• Africa is one of the most ‘closed’ regions in the world – especially when it comes to the visa situation. This poses a formidable obstacle to business travel within the continent.
• Flight delays are routine, so book suitable connections. Also, international and domestic terminals can be in two completely separate places, requiring transfers; subsequent cross-town delays, due to heavy and chaotic traffic, are common.
BBT JULY/AUGUST 2015 69
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